I think the American Pale Ale is its own style, the canonical example of which is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Brewers get confused about what to call this, and often end up just calling it a "Pale Ale" or an "IPA". It's certainly not an IPA. Keep in mind these are ment to be drunk cold. Pour an SNPA at cellar temperature and rack it up next to a geniune IPA and the difference will be clear. Terminal Brewhouse referred to this style as a "West Coast IPA" or "double IPA", either of which is a better description, but they miss the boat by brewing their own "American Pale Ale" which is maltier and less hoppy than what I'd call an APA.
I recently tried Budweiser's "American Ale", which I was looking forward to (seriously), and it was, perhaps predictably, a big disappointment. It has an encouraging start -- a slight hop bite, but then completely disappears in a weak and appallingly watery finish. The head brewer's proud of this? Surely not. I was hoping they were going after SNPA. The more people's standards get raised, the better it is for everyone. No dice. It's lame. I compared directly vs. Michelob Pale Ale (weak but slightly more honest than the Bud), SNPA (of course), and Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale (a very nice APA out of Atlanta). The big brewers should be perfectly capable of turning out great beers (Guinness is huge and makes a fantastic beer). Wonder when they'll start.
imho, the AB brewers are absolutely capable of producing, consistently, any beer they want. and they could probably make one that compares/competes very favorably with SNPA.
ReplyDeletei have to think that they're not in charge, though, of what gets produced for the public. victims of test audiences or executive overruling, i'd guess. it's a shame.
Shame you can't pop round their "R&D" labs and sample all the stuff that never makes the market.
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